Words unspoken.The lack of the linguistic device "recursion In programming, the ability of a subroutine or program module to call itself. It is helpful for writing routines that solve problems by repeatedly processing the output of the same process. See recurse subdirectories. " in the Piraha language might be more subtle than investigator Dan Everett suspects ("The Piraha Challenge," SN: 12/10/05, p. 376). I've heard examples of the sentence given as recursion--"When I finish eating, I want to speak to you"--rendered as a run-on sentence run-on sentence n. See fused sentence. Noun 1. run-on sentence - an ungrammatical sentence in which two or more independent clauses are conjoined without a conjunction by speakers new to English and by lifelong speakers as well: "I finish eating I speak to you." The "when," which determines the timing of the second part of the run-on, is implied. Perhaps something similar occurs in Piraha. WILLIAM BRITTON, NORTH PORT, FLA FLA Florida (old style) FLA Macromedia Flash (file extension) FLA Flash Files (file extension) FLA Fair Labor Association FLA Front Line Assembly . Piraha seem to be using words and other noises as signs rather than symbols. Symbols routinely refer to absent abstractions, whereas signs merely direct attention to potential objects of experience. We shouldn't be surprised that a grammar of signs like those of the Piraha might differ from a grammar of symbols. RICHARD LIND, TULSA, OKLA OKLA Oklahoma (old style) . |
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